The Green Gem
by forgetablelove
Summary: Luna goes missing and Draco uses the green gem she gave her to look for her...


Draco Malfoy watched as the beautiful woman stood out on the balcony overlooking the dark hills. Her long blond hair fell down over her shoulders all the way down to the middle of her back. Her robe was a brilliant blue flowing behind her as she wore orange radish earrings in her ears and a butterbeer cork necklace around her neck. Her attire was contradicting to Draco, but there was just something about her...

He couldn't make out the silver color of her eye from where he stood, but he knew they held odd ideas about life. She was one of a kind.

Suddenly, a hand reached out and covered her mouth, pulling her through the curtained doors. He watched as the wand the woman tucked behind her ear for safekeeping feel to the ground silently.

Draco felt his heart stop for a moment. "Luna!" he yelled at the top of his lungs.

It took him barely a moment to reach in his robes and pull out his own wand, levitating himself up to the balcony to follow her. The room he entered was empty. She was nowhere in sight. "Damn it," he muttered, walking in the room and looking around himself wildly, hoping for any clue.

The room was clean and organized, showing no sign of a struggle, yet she wasn't there. Going back onto the balcony he picked up her fallen wand and pocketed it, knowing she would want it when he found her.

He rifled through her home, looking for anything that might point to her whereabouts. Nothing.

Taking a deep breath to calm himself, he thought about who would want to hurt her in the first place. He couldn't think of anyone, but he did remember her saying something vaguely about her father's competition and that got his mind working..

When he pulled open the front door, a bright glint on his finger turned his attention to the ring that she had given him. She'd given it to him nearly three years before, yet it still felt like yesterday.

Draco had been attending a party thrown by an associate. He'd felt her eyes the moment he'd walked in, but he had avoided her. Being seen talking to Luna Lovegood was not something he wanted, or needed at the time. He'd only wanted to spend an hour or so mingling, and then leave without any problems.

While speaking with an acquaintance, he had noticed the man's eyes drift beyond his shoulder as if someone was standing there. He had turned slightly to see who it was and her silver eyes met his instantly.

"May I please have a word with Mr. Malfoy?" her dreamy voice had requested. She had been dressed in emerald green dress robes donning her butterbeer cork necklace and radish earrings as if they were in style.

"Yes, of course. It was good talking to you again, Mr. Malfoy," the man said with a nod before he scurried off, hoping, just as Draco had, to get as far away from the odd woman as he could.

With a heavy sigh, Draco said, "How may I help you, Lovegood?"

She'd smiled slightly, a dreamy smile. "I merely wanted to give you something?" When he didn't reply, she had reached in her robes and pulled out a ring box. "Here."

He made no move to grab it, and she thrust it at him. "Take it please. I want you to have it."

Draco's eyes flicked from the woman's face to the box a few times before he realized she wasn't going to back down. Reaching out he took the box she offered him carefully.

"You'll need it soon," she had told him before she walked away just as quickly as she's come.

That was all. Draco felt the eyes of the partygoers on him as his curiosity got the better of him and he opened the box. Inside was an elegant ring with a green gem on it. It seemed relatively expensive. He glanced upwards, looking for the abnormal woman but she had already melted into the crowd. He glanced back down at the ring and noticed a piece of white parchment folded into the lid. Pulling it out he read it:

i Draco,

I'm glad you took the ring. Hopefully you didn't put up too much of a fight. It's a gift for you – an heirloom pasted down in my family for generations. I know you will find it useful when the time comes!

Luna /i 

The note was simple, making him think it was all a joke. There was no way the witch had actually given him a family heirloom. It was unheard of. Perplexed he slid the note back in the box and the box into his pocket.

Draco had sought Luna out after that. She never had explained the ring, yet she had explained many other things to him. Her wild ideas about what was true and what wasn't made him laugh most of the time, but she always stared at him with the same wistful expression. Time and time again they met without meaning to, spending dinner together, or taking in a show; more and more he felt himself drawn to the strange woman, seeking her out without meaning to.

Over the years their timid friendship grew into something more, something deeper. Until the moment he saw his friend get pulled into the house, Draco never realized he had fallen in love with her.

---

Xenophilius Lovegood looked up from his desk as the young man walked into his office unannounced. His shoulder length white hair was pulled back into a ponytail; his normal eye fixed on the wizard's grey eyes. "Mr. Malfoy, how may I help you?"

"Good evening Mr. Lovegood. Working late I see."

Xenophilius nodded silently.

Draco cleared his throat uncomfortably. "Have you heard from Luna tonight?" He knew he hadn't.

"No. I haven't heard from her in a few days. Why do you ask?" The older man looked up at Draco curiously.

"I was just wondering. Er…when is the next issue of the Quibber coming out?"

Xenophilius perked up, his eyes alight with pride and interest. "I wasn't aware you read the Quibber, Mr. Malfoy."

"Luna always asks me to read certain articles." He paused briefly, glancing down at his watch. "I'm almost late for a meeting, I'm sorry."

"At ten o'clock at night?" Xenophilius' eyes narrowed.

"It's an emergency."

He nodded slowly. "The next issue comes out tomorrow. Make sure you read page five."

Draco merely nodded as he left the office, cursing himself silently. He had known that talking to Xenophilius would be a dead end, yet he had wasted time doing so. Looking down at the ring Luna had given him on his finger, he tried to think of where she could be. The girl had no enemies. Xenophilius might have enemies, but not Luna herself.

He Apparated to the study in the Malfoy Manor, deciding to do some research before wasting any more time. Flipping through books about ancestry, trying to find out the Lovegood family history, he came up with nothing. He poured over tomes of useless information all night before he fell asleep as he sat at the desk.

He was rudely awoken by an owl pecking at his hand. He waved the animal off as he sat up. The owl had an issue of the Quibbler in its beak and a coin pouch hanging around its neck. Draco took the issue and drop the payment for it in the pouch. "Now leave!"

After watching the owl take off out the window, Draco looked down at the paper. He didn't have a subscription for the Quibbler and had fully intended to pick one up when he went out. That it was delivered to his house was a bit of a curiosity. Remembering what Luna's father had said, he opened to page five and started to read the article:

** b Mutant Goblins on a Kidnapping Spree /b **

i Mutant goblins have been seen kidnapping young witches all over England and Scotland. The witnesses have tried to stop the offenders by using magic, but the goblins have acquired pendants made of capdear claws.

Capdear are rare creatures found in the Amazon-- /i 

Draco stopped reading abruptly. The ring on his finger was vibrating and humming; the green jewel was glowing. "What the hell?"

Quickly, he took off the ring and placed it on the table, watching it closely. The normally clear green gem became cloudy. As he watched letters began to appear in the gem:

C – O – M – E – T – O – M – E

"Come to me?" Draco read softly. His pulse pounded so hard he could hear it in his ears. "What the hell does that mean?"

After a few moments' pause letters began to form again.

B – R – I – S – K – L – E – I – S – L – A – N – D

"Briskle Island?" Draco remembered vaguely Luna mentioning a place called Briskle Island. She had told him about vacations she had taken with her parents, before her mother died, when she was younger. They had been searching for something called a droul. He had never heard of it before, but she was determined to convince him that they were real.

Not knowing what was going on, Draco decided to take a trip to Briskle Island and see if it was a clue to Luna's disappearance.

---

Briskle Island was just off of the northern tip of Ireland. It was a small quiet island with only one small town on the whole island. Draco racked his brain, trying to remember any more information from what Luna had told him about drouls.

"They are creatures of the night. They hide in caves until night falls, then they seek their prey," Luna had told him in her wistful way.

He checked out all the caves he could find, but didn't find Luna. When he was exited the last cave on the island, his ring began to vibrate again. He watched the ring carefully, looking for the letters that would appear in the gem.

1 – 0 – 3 – N – E – W – B – A – R – Y – L – A – N – E

Without a moment's hesitation, Draco took out his map of the island. Newbary Lane was the main road, slicing the island in half perfectly. He Apparated to 103 Newbary Lane as fast as he could.

103 Newbary Lane was a small cottage close to the road surrounded by trees. It was cozy, and he could see one of the caves he had searched close behind it.

"Draco! Draco you found it!"

Draco whipped around to see Luna running toward him, her face alight with excitement. She was wearing a bright blue sundress that clung to her body in the breeze. Her long blond blew back from her face, showing her silver eyes clearly. He let out a breath that he hadn't been holding aware he was holding.

"Luna? Luna are you okay?" he asked when she stopped in front of him, a grin on her beautiful face. He cupped her face in his hands, looking deep into her eyes to make sure she wasn't hurt and to prove to himself she was real.

"I'm fine. I'm so glad you figured out the ring." She threw her arms around him.

"The ring?" Draco repeated, wrapping his arms around her and pulling her close.

"The message I sent you through the ring." She pulled back, looking into his silver eyes. Reaching into the neck of her robes she pulled out a chain that was hidden. On the chain was a ring that matched the one she had given him. The only difference was the gem was a clear blue instead of green.

"I've never seen that ring before," he told her.

She smiled. "I've kept it hidden."

"Why would you do that?"

She shrugged. "The gem on this one is from a Blue Asper; the gem on yours is from a Green Asper. They were mates… They are connected and always have been."

He tried to figure out what she was telling him. "An Asper?"

"You've never heard of Apsers?" He shook his head. "They are sea creatures that live in ocean caves. Their gems are rare, but hold great power especially when the wizards wearing them…" She stopped dead, looking unsure.

"When the wizards wearing them what?" he asked easily.

"Are in love." Her voice had lost its normal wistful quality.

Her arms loosened, but he didn't pull away like she had expected. "Were you sending me messages through the gems for some reason? I thought you were in danger, Luna."

She placed her hands back around him and sighed. "I had to be sure, Draco. If you didn't come after me, looked for me, I knew the ring was wasted on you, but since you did I know I was right."

"Right about what?"

"About you, Draco. I was right about you." She brought her mouth to his, kissing him lightly.

Pulling her tightly against him, he deepened the kiss immediately, his tongue probing her lips trying to gain entrance to her mouth. She opened her mouth under his willingly and kissed him back.

After a few moments, they pulled apart. "This was all a test?" he asked her quietly.

She squirmed slightly, her voice still dreamy even in her discomfort. "Well, I suppose you could call it that."

He buried his head in her shoulder, breathing in her scent. "I was so worried about you Luna."

"I'm sorry. But if it's any consolation, now I can tell you that I love you."

"I love you, too, Merlin knows why, but I do."

"I told you you'd need the ring one day."

"Luna, I only need you."

She grinned at him. "Why would have guessed the rich Slytherin snob would fall in love with me, Looney Lovegood?"

"Don't call yourself that. You're not loony; you're perfect." He kissed her again.


End file.
